Supreme state organ of power

The supreme state organ of power (abbreviated SSOP in the following) is a type of legislature and the supreme institution in communist states. It operates under the Marxist–Leninist principle of unified state power and serves as the apex of the pyramid-like structure known as the unified state apparatus, providing the structural precondition for democratic centralism in the state. Unlike systems based on the fusion or separation of powers, the SSOP holds legislative, executive, judicial, and all other forms of state power, but commonly delegates these powers to subordinate state organs in line with a division of labour. It formally regards itself as the embodiment of popular sovereignty and its activities in practice are closely shaped by the ruling communist party.

The SSOP's theoretical origins trace back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's idea of a "supreme power" of the people, Karl Marx's call for unity of state power, and Vladimir Lenin's vision of soviets as working organs which combined lawmaking and execution. The world's first SSOP was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, established after the 1917 October Revolution, and it became the prototype for similar institutions in other communist states.

SSOPs meet periodically, with most of their powers delegated to their permanent organs. These organs exercise most or all of the SSOP's powers between SSOP sessions. The balance between plenary sessions and permanent organs vary; SSOP sessions in the Soviet Union were infrequent and primarily served as rubber stamps for decisions already made by the party leadership. However, historically in states such as Poland, Yugoslavia, and in present-day Vietnam SSOP sessions sometimes act as legislative forums where policies are debated and amended. In all communist states, SSOPs also have important symbolic roles as expressions of popular sovereignty and channels for representation and often include workers, peasants, women, and ethnic minorities in greater proportions than in similar entities in liberal democracies. They continue to exist in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam, although their roles vary considerably.